Health Minister Andrew Little says the Government is committed to improving remuneration for health workers, as the sector continues to buckle under the strain of staffing pressures and a lack of pay.
Over 1300 midwives are taking the Ministry of Health to court, saying they aren't properly paid or supported, and Little told Breakfast on Friday that the Government are "committed to addressing the issues that they've got".
"It'll take us a few weeks to get some advice and in terms of fixing the problems, we can only do it with them," Little said. "Their college can expect that we'll be in touch with them, we'll get around the table hopefully, and we'll work up and plan how we can start to address their issues."
The dispute goes back to 2015, when the last government was in, but Little acknowledged that the settlement agreement reached in 2018 under the current government didn't fully address the problem.
READ MORE: Over 1300 midwives taking MoH to court over pay, support
"Look, we have put additional money into maternal healthcare, about $240 million in the 2020 Budget," he said.
"But we didn't address the issues that were really concerning them, which is about being able to influence their remuneration, and secondly the support they get to do their job for independent midwives.
"There are better models I'm sure where we can preserve their independence, which is what they want, but give them the support they need to focus on doing the job that we want them to do."
It comes after Claire MacDonald from the New Zealand College of Midwives said the current contract model for community-based midwives is "not fit for purpose in the current situation".
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She told Breakfast on Thursday that the proposed solutions from previous settlements could be "slotted into place tomorrow".
"I think a big part of what we need to see is Government actually listening and implementing those solutions."
But Little couldn't provide a timeline for any changes, saying he had to wait on advice and engage with the College of Midwives.
"We may have differences in how we will achieve it, but I think we all agree, we've got to provide better support and better income for independent midwives."
And on the struggles that the health sector as a whole is facing, Little said the Ministry of Health had "a lot of work underway to address pay equity".
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"We remain committed to lifting the income of health workers because a lot of them are a long way behind."
Little added that he was aware of staffing shortages in the sector, saying it's a worldwide issue and the Government "will do what we can to recruit and retain the talent that we've got".
"I think part of the slightly longer term challenge is to look at the work that everyone's doing and say, is it right for a registered nurse working at the top of their scope to be doing all the range of tasks that they're currently doing, or can we think about how we redistribute some of those tasks."
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